² sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

⁴ sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

⁴ sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

³ sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.

¹ tn Heb “Go and proclaim these words to the north.” The translation assumes that the message is directed toward the exiles of northern Israel who have been scattered in the provinces of Assyria to the north.

² sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

⁶ sn From the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses indicates the extent of Jerusalem from north to south.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “his”; the referent (the enemy of the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.

¹ sn Sharon was a plain located to the west, along the Mediterranean coast north of Joppa and south of Carmel.

¹ sn Kedemoth. This is probably Aleiyan, about 8 mi (13 km) north of the Arnon and between Dibon and Mattanah.

⁴ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

² tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

² sn The commands in this verse and in vv. 26-27 are directed to the armies from the north, who are referred to in v. 3 as “a nation from the north” and in v. 9 as a “host of mighty nations from the land of the north.” The addressee in this section shifts from one referent to another.

¹ sn A nation from the north refers to Medo-Persia, which at the time of the conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c. had conquered all the nations to the north, the northwest, and the northeast of Babylon, forming a vast empire to the north and east of Babylon. Contingents of these many nations were included in her army, and reference is made to them in 50:9 and 51:27-28. There is also some irony involved here because the “enemy from the north” referred to so often in Jeremiah (cf. 1:14; 4:6; 6:1) has been identified with Babylon (cf. 25:9). Here in a kind of talionic justice Judah’s nemesis from the north will be attacked and devastated by an enemy from the north.

¹ sn Elealeh was about two miles (3.3 km) north of Heshbon. Jahaz was about twenty miles (33 km) south of it. These three cities were in the north, and Zoar, Horonaim, and Eglath Shelishiyah were apparently in the south. The verse is speaking about the news of destruction in the north spreading to the south. Comparison should be made with the parallel passage in Isa 15:4-6.

² sn The land of Hadrach was a northern region stretching from Aleppo in the north to Damascus in the south (cf. NLT “Aram”).

² sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).